Advertisement-displaying machine.



L. F. W. ME-ESE.

ADVERTISEMENT DISPLAYING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 3. 191 6.

1,230.3 1 3. Patented June 19, 1917.

Fig.1

1 1 E if ILL?- 4 2/ 2o Wiwessea z 5 mmm 7 I Win91:

L. F. W. MEESE.

ADVERTISEMENT DISPLAYING MACHINE.

Patented J nne 19, 1917.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 3. I916- 1,230,313.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I II II II II [I ]l II II II I II II II II II II Jl II II H II II II II It @EEE'EIEE 44/45 Z'fhii fw- Wage m: mmms L. .F W. MEESE.

ADVERTISEMENT DISPLAYENG MACHINE.

APPLICATKON FILED JAN. 3. 1916- 1,230,313. Patented June 19, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

w/iwsses. 02 Q ?F 4W fWW/eese.

LOUIS W. MEESE, OF MINNEAPOLIS. MINNESOTA.

ADVERTISEMENT-DISPLAYING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 19, 1917.

Application filed January 3, 1916. Serial No. 69,777.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS F. W. Mnnsn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Advertisement-Displaying Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has for its object the provision of a simple and efficient means for presenting to view, one after the other, a plurality of display cards or sheets having marked thereon various difi'erent printed ple, a street or station indicator.

matter or pictorial illustrations. Generally stated, the invention consists of the novel devices and combinations of devices hereinafterdescriloed and defined in the claims.

My improved machine is especially adapted and particularly intended for use to present to view, in succession, a multiplicity of different advertisements, but-may be used for other analogous purposes, as, for exam- As a feature of high importance, the invention provides cards or sheets marked with advertisements on both sides; and the machine involves means for presenting the cards or sheets to View, in succession,,to display advertisements on one side of the cards, and then for reversing the cards, end for end, and then, in succession, again presenting the same cards to View with their opposite faces y oral views.

exposed. This, of course, doubles the number of. advertisements that can be provided with a given number of cards or sheets. The cards, so-called are preferably flexible, or in the form of sheets capable of being bent or I rolled.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate the improved machine, like characters indicate like parts throughout the sev- Referring to the drawin s:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of t e machine;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the machine with the front plate of the case removed;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 00 00. of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section taken approximately on the line m a of Fig. 2; j Fig. 5 is a section on the linens m of F front plate, has a large sight opening 2 through which the advertisements, or other matter on the display cards may be exhibiBted :to view, as, for example, shown in Mounted in suitable bearings on the sides of the case 1 are upper shafts 3 and 4, and lower shafts 5 and 6. Each of these four shafts carries a pair of laterally spaced sprockets 7 'thatare located quite. close to the side plates of the case 1. A pair of laterally spaced parallel sprocket chains 8 run over the alined laterally spaced sets of sprockets 7. The upper shaft 4 is located higher than the upper shaft 3, and forwardly inclined channel-shaped tracks 9 extend from points above the shaft 4 to'points considerably below the shaft 3. These tracks 9 are located quite close to the inner sides of the adjacent sprockets, and they are rigidly supported by brackets 10 secured thereto, and to the sides of the case 1.

The front lower shaft 5 carries a roller 11,

upon which is arranged to run, with very considerable play, a slack take-up cylinder 12, the function of which will hereinafter appear. Light stop fingers 13 are secured on the bottoms of the case and project upward between the lower front portions of the chains 8 and perform functions presently to be noted. I The chains,,or endless carriers 8, are each provided with a catch lug'14, a pick-up hook 15 and an escapement tripping or actuating cam lug 16. The said members 14, 15 and 16, on the two chains, are located in trans versely opposite pairs, and the said catch lugs and pick-up hooks 15 are projected laterally inward to vertical planes that approximately intersect the outer portions of the inclined tracks 9.

The above noted shafts 3, 5 and 6 are preferably extended completely across the machine, but the rear upper shaft 4 is divided, or cut away between the inclined tracks 9, to afford clearance for the display cards. o V.

The display cards 17 are flexible and may be made either of tough paper or of cloth,

and at their upper and lower edges are provided with, or secured to small rods 18 and 19 that project at their ends and are provided with wheel-like flanges 20 that are adapted to run in the channels of the inclined tracks 9. Normally, the upper rods of the display cards are supported on the said tracks and they are permitted to escape, one at a time, off from the lower end of the said tracks, by a duplex escapement mechanism comprising two escapement le vers 21 pivoted to the sides of the case 1, by a small cross shaft These escapement levers '21 are located just inward of the upper front sprockets 7 and they are provided with out-turned fingers 23 adapted to be engaged by the cam lugs 16 of the chains 8. The lower free ends of the escapement levers 21 are formed with reversely acting escapement pallets or teeth :21 and 25, the latter of which are bent inward and upward, to the inner sides of the lower ends of the inclined tracks 9. Normally, the pallets 24c engage the ends of the upper rod of the foremost display card and hold the same and all of the other display cards back upon the inclined tracks, as best shown in Fig. 4t.

Operation.

Let it first be assumed that the display cards are supported with their rod 18 uppermost and resting on the inclined tracks 9. lVhen the cam lugs 16 come into engagement with the fingers 23 of the escapement levers 21, as shown in Fig. 3, the said levers will be raised, thereby causing the pallet 24. to release the foremost display card, and the pallets in position to hold back the upper rod 18 of the second display card. When the first or foremost display card is thus released, the ends of its upper rod 18 will drop onto the catch lugs 1 1 of the chains 8, and the ends of the lower rod 19 thereof will drop into position to be engaged by the pickup hooks 15 of the said chains. Then, as the chains move, the camlugs 16 will pass the fingers 23 and drop the escapement levers back to normal position shown in Fig. 4, thereby permitting the next display card to move slightly forward with its upper rod against the pallets 24; in position to be released by the next upward movement of the escapement levers. As the chains move forward, the hooks 15, by engagement with the lower rod 19 of the released display and, will be carried downward, and thence upward, until the display card reaches the position. shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, in which position it will be noted the display card has been turned end for end, so that its rod 19, which was previously downward, is now raised, and its rod 18, which was pre viously at the upper edge, is now at the lower edge and has swung free from the catch lugs 1%. At about the position just stated, the rod 19 which is then upwarc, will slide off from the pickup hooks 15 and drop onto the inclined tracks 9, and by gravity, be moved down over the inclined tracks until it is again released by the escapement levers.

It will thus be seen that the display cards will be presented to view in succession, first with one face exposed, and then will be inverted, end for end, or edge for edge, and presented in succession with their opposite faces exposed. For example, Fig. 1 shows a card with one face exposed, and Fig. 2 shows the same card with its other face exposed.

The endless chains or carrier belt may be driven by any suitable means. either continuously or intermittently. For example, the upper shaft 3 may be projected at one end and provided with a sprocket 3, over which a power driven chain might be run.

The escapement levers 21 may be operated by gravity alone, but as shown, they are yieldingly pressed downward by gravity and by the action of light torsion springs 22" anchored to the cross shaft and to one side of the case 1.

The stop fingers 13 prevent the lower rod of a released display card from swinging outward until it has passed below the pick-up hooks 15. The loose cylinder 12 takes up the slack in the flexible card while it is being turned under the shafts 5 and 6.

hat I claim is:

1. In a machine of the kind described, the combination with a plurality of cards, of laterally spaced endless belts and driving and guiding means therefor, including front and rear upper belt guiding Wheels, inclined tracks for supporting said. cards, extending fromsaid rear guidewheels to points below said front guide wheels and terminating in positionto discharge said cards onto the downwardly moving sides" of said belts, catch lugs on said belts to receive upper portions of said cards, and pick-up hooks on said belts for engagement with lower portions of the cards, said hooks serving to invert the cards and deliver the same back onto the upper ends of said rails. v

2. In a machine of the kind described, the combination with a plurality of cards, of laterally spaced endless belts and driving and guiding means therefor, including front and rear upper belt guiding wheels, inclined tracks for supporting said cards, extending from said rear guide wheels to points below said front guide wheels and terminating in position to discharge said cards onto the downwardly moving sides of said belts, catch lugs on said belts to receive upper portions of said cards, and pick up hooks on said belts for engagement with. lower portions of said cards,

said hooks serving to invert the cards and deliver the same back onto the upper ends of said rails, and an escapement device for controlling the discharge of the cards from the lower ends of said rails, said belts having cam lugs for operating said escapement with the properly timed action.

3. In a machine for displaying cards, the combination with inclined rails and a plurality of cards adapted to be supported thereon, of laterally spaced endless belts, upper and lower guiding wheels for said belts arranged to move the same completely around the said rails and to cause the downwardly moved portions or" said belts to incline to points backward of the lower ends of said rails, catch lugs on said belts for receiving upper portions of the cards from the lower ends of said rails, and pick-up hooks on said belts for taking up the cards at their lower ends and delivering the same onto the upper ends of said rails.

4. In a machine for displaying cards, the combination with inclined rails and a plu- Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the rality of cards adapted to be supported thereon, of laterally spaced endless belts, upper and lower guide wheels for said belts arranged to move the same completely around the said rails and to cause the downwardly moved portions of said belts to incline 'to points backward of the lower ends of said rails, catch lugs on said belts for receiving upper portions of the cards from the lower ends of said rails, and pick-up hooks on said belts for taking up the cards at their lower ends and delivering the same onto the upper ends ofrsaid rails, ment levers controlling the discharge of the cards from the lower ends of said rails, and cam lugs on said belts for operating said escapement levers with properly timed ac tions.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LOUIS F. W. MEESE. Witnesses:

HARRY D. KInsoRE, F. D. MERCHANT.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

escape- 

